Trial witnesses describe mother's shooting

Wednesday

Apr 23, 2008 at 12:29 AMApr 23, 2008 at 6:33 AM

BY SUEVON LEESTAR-BANNER

OCALA - Two sons of a woman allegedly shot to death by her husband six years ago took the stand in Circuit Court Tuesday, describing to jurors what they saw and heard the night they discovered their mother had been fatally wounded.
Brandon McBride, the 20-year-old son of the deceased Sandra McBride, 45, said he was at the other end of their mobile home in northwest Ocala when he heard what sounded like something falling off the bed, and then heard the cries of his younger brother, Deonshai.
Brandon testified how he dialed 911 after seeing his mother unconscious on the bed and the wounded arm of his then-4-year-old brother.
Another son, Donnell Cox, 29, told jurors that he found a piece of paper from the Marion County Clerk's Office on top of the dresser in his mother's bedroom in the hours following the incident. The court document stated that his stepfather, Stanley McCloud, had not paid child support to date.
McCloud, 49, is on trial for the premeditated first-degree murder of McBride, his wife of six years. The two were separated at the time.
A frantic 911 call that McCloud placed moments after his wife was shot was played for jurors Tuesday during his trial.
"I just shot my wife and I want to turn myself in," McCloud states on the tape. "I didn't mean to do it .Ê.Ê. she made me do it."
Prosecutors said the tape proves McCloud committed cold-blooded murder.
"The question in this trial is not whodunit, but what's gonna be done about it," Assistant State Attorney Susan Simmons said in opening statements.
She described how McCloud, fueled by jealousy over the discovery of another man in McBride's life, sat holding a .357-caliber Magnum for 15 minutes at the end of his wife's bed as she talked nonstop about how she was involved with another man and wanted him to leave.
She said McCloud turned around and pulled the trigger.
Repeating statements McCloud made to police, Simmons told jurors, "He said, 'She kept right on (talking) for 30 minutes and she would not shut up.'Ê"
In his opening statement, Chief Assistant Public Defender Bill Miller portrayed the fatal shooting as "a sudden, panicked, spontaneous act" carried out by a man whose judgment that night was clouded by alcohol and his wife's hurtful words about the extramarital relationship.
"She kept on talking, and taunting, and talking and taunting," Miller said. "This case virtually defines how the heat of passion can deprive people of reason and judgment."
McCloud, dressed in a gray suit beside Miller's co-counsel, Nicole Hardin, removed his glasses during the opening statements and wiped away tears.
Several Marion County sheriff's deputies testified Tuesday morning that McCloud was distraught when apprehended at a Quick King that he had driven to in his Ford Explorer after the slaying. The pistol authorities say was used in the shooting was found on the seat next to McCloud, still loaded with five rounds. The deputies said they thought McCloud was capable of harming himself as they prepared to arrest him.
Assistant State Attorney Rock Hooker introduced into evidence photographs of the crime scene, including a blood-stained bed sheet from the couple's bedroom and the mattress in which the bullet was found lodged.
With the appearance of each new witness, Miller continued to raise objections to the mention of children in the case, which Eddy overruled in each instance.
McBride's 4-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter were in bed beside her when she was shot. A sheriff's official later testified that Deonshai McCloud was found with lacerations on his right arm and a rip in the shoulder area of his shirt, caused when the bullet grazed him.
Miller did successfully prevent emergency room photos of Deonshai's wounded arm from being shown to jurors after arguing to the judge that the photos had nothing to do with the defendant's state of mind when he shot his wife.
The trial is expected to resume today with testimony from the medical examiner.
Suevon Lee may be reached at 867-4065 or suevon.lee@starbanner.com.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.